The Thoughtful Gamer Podcast

We just finished a game of Trade on the Tigris and decided to sit around a microphone and talk about trading games. Marc, Matt, Lindsay, Amber, and Ben lend their thoughts to this exciting, but challenging genre of game. What is a trading game? Why is Matt insane to think Catan isn't one? What kind of challenges face someone trying to design one? Which one do we think does trading best? Find out! 3:26 - Marc tells a story about middle-schoolers and epistemological horror 5:46 - Board games are first mentioned 7:15 - What is a trading game? 14:47 - Characteristics of trade 19:03 - Creating different valuations 27:45 - Double coincidence of wants 32:48 - Deception and risk analysis in Trade on the Tigris 41:48 - The "single winner" problem 49:43 - An aside on economic notions of value and profit 52:52 - The length problem 58:18 - The uncertainty of value problem 1:02:55 - The aggressiveness problem 1:06:38 - The "trade dominates the game" problem 1:12:22 - Pie Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction Lik